Are prescribed medications effective in the treatment of insomnia complaints?

• Published in: Journal of psychosomatic research Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 359 - 368
• Main Authors: Ohayon, Maurice M, Caulet, M, Arbus, L, Billard, M, Coquerel, A, Guieu, J.-D, Kullmann, B, Laffont, F, Lemoine, P, Paty, J, Pechadre, J.C, Vecchierini, M.-F, Vespignani, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 01.10.1999
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Anti-Anxiety Agents - therapeutic use; Antidepressant; Anxiolytic; Case-Control Studies; Drug Utilization Review; Family Practice - statistics & numerical data; Female; France - epidemiology; General practice; Humans; Hypnotic; Hypnotics and Sedatives - therapeutic use; Insomnia treatment; Male; Middle Aged; Population Surveillance; Practice Patterns, Physicians; Prevalence; Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use; Sex Distribution; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - drug therapy; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - psychology; France; Antidepressant; Hypnotic; General practice; Insomnia treatment; Anxiolytic
• ISSN: 0022-3999; 1879-1360
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3999(98)00079-8

Although frequently investigated in the general population, the epidemiology of insomnia complaints and their treatment have received little attention in general practice. This study recruited patients ≥15 years of age, consecutively, from 127 general practitioners in France. The physicians collected data from 11,810 of their patients, of whom 55.5% were women. Insomnia complaints were reported by 26.2% (25.4% to 27%) of the sample and use of sleep-promoting medication by 10.1% (9.7% to 10.7%). About 47% of the prescribed drugs used were anxiolytics and 45% hypnotics. Most consumers took sleep-enhancing drugs on a daily and long-term basis and most reported that the medication improved their quality of sleep. However, few distinctions emerged between elderly drug-taking insomniacs and elderly nontreated insomniacs with respect to the various dimensions of sleep. Results underscore the persistent general tendency among French general practitioners to overprescribe anxiolytics for the treatment of insomnia complaints and that they do so on a long-term basis, despite the findings of numerous studies showing that benzodiazepines are ineffective in the treatment of sleep complaints over the long term.